Tracker and vibration analysis system having UV sensitivity

ABSTRACT

Tracker systems are disclosed, the system mountable on a device having one or more rotary component, comprising: an optical tracker having circuitry that causes the optical tracker to receive and filter optical signals including UV, visible, and infrared wavelengths so as to be more sensitive to UV wavelengths than the visible and infrared wavelengths. The optical tracker having circuitry transmitting data indicative of a distance; and one or more computer processor that utilizes the optical tracker determined distance to determine track error of the one or more rotary component of the device, and transmits data indicative of the track error.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present patent application claims priority to the provisional patentapplication identified by U.S. Ser. No. 62/385,609 filed on Sep. 9,2016, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure generally relates to systems for rotation trackers andvibration analyses. More particularly the disclosure relates to systemsand methods for tracking one or more rotating component of a body inorder to measure the displacement of the rotating component and correctsuch displacement. Further, the disclosure relates to systems andmethods for vibration analyses and vibration reduction of equipmenthaving one or more rotating components.

BACKGROUND

Vibration reduction is an important part of performance enhancement formachines having rotating components. For example, helicopter vibrationreduction is an important part of aircraft maintenance and ride quality.

Traditionally, such vibration is reduced by controlling the mass of therotors and the aerodynamic effect of the rotor blades. For example, themass error of a helicopter rotor is typically detected using a singleaccelerometer mounted near the rotor mast. The aerodynamic error inforward flight is usually detected by measuring the vertical “hop” in anaccelerometer mounted in the nose of the helicopter. However, sincevibration is a convolution of multiple vibration sources such as masserror, track error and other contributing factors such as leading orlagging blades, it is useful to measure blade track and airframevibration in multiple axes simultaneously to help determine what type ofmass or aerodynamic adjustment can best reduce the overall vibration.

There are several traditional methods for checking the track ofhelicopter rotor blades in a hover. For example, one method uses a flagon a stick that is positioned near the rotors. As the rotors pass theflag, the blade tips strike the flag, leaving marks that show therelative position of the blades. This method can be time consuming anddangerous to the operator. Another method uses reflective blade tips orilluminated blade tips to make the tips of the blades viewable undercertain lighting conditions. In yet another method, strobe lights areused to visualize the blades movement and track.

In another example, an optical blade tracker is used to detect thedistance of individual blades using a parallax method. Such a method isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,431, which is hereby incorporated inits entirety herein. In that system, two sensors are used to generatetwo optical detection fields. As the blade passes through the twodetection fields, the time is measured between the interruptions of thetwo fields. If the rotor diameter, RPM, and chord of the blades areknown, then the distance, and difference in distance can be calculated,the track error calculated, and corrections can be made to adjust therotor.

However, in some current systems, the optical blade tracker is notalways perpendicular to the rotor blades and adjustment calculationsmust be done to compensate for the angular error in the position of theoptical tracker. For instance, the distance that the optical bladetracker is mounted below the rotor, the distance ahead of the mainrotor, and the angle looking up toward the rotor, are all measurementsthat need to be determined prior to operating the optical blade tracker.This measurement of distances and angles can be problematic and timeconsuming. Errors in the measurements may cause errors in the trackestimate and the rotor smoothing.

Additionally, current systems require attachment of multipleaccelerometers around the airship, as well as one at the mast and one atthe nose, and then running wires back to a central computer from eachaccelerometer for vibration analysis. These multiple accelerometers arelocated to maximize the translational vibration in the accelerometer.However, the attachment and complexity of the wiring systems can beproblematic, as well as time consuming to attach and maintain.

SUMMARY

Tracker and vibration analysis systems for equipment having at least oneblade are described. The problem of dangerous, time-consuming, andinefficient, tracker correction is addressed through including anorientation/motion sensor in the tracker system such that the trackersystem can determine the angle from the sensor to the blade. In the caseof a helicopter, the blade is a rotor supported by a mast. With theangle, the RPM of the rotor blades, and the blade chord, the trackersystem can calculate the position of the optical tracker relative to theblade(s). The tracker system can calculate the maximum deflection of theblade(s) at a blade tip. Further the problem of time-consuming andinefficient vibration data collection is addressed through use ofcentralized accelerometer(s) with which the tracker system can determinethe vibration profile for the equipment.

In one embodiment, all of the sensors of the tracker system are attachedto and/or supported by a housing that can be attached to the equipmentsuch that the blade is within a field of view of the optical tracker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more implementationsdescribed herein and, together with the description, explain theseimplementations. The drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale, andcertain features and certain views of the figures may be shownexaggerated, to scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity andconciseness. Not every component may be labeled in every drawing. Likereference numerals in the figures may represent and refer to the same orsimilar element or function. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an exemplary helicopter with blades in a firstposition.

FIG. 2 is another side view of the exemplary helicopter of FIG. 1, withblades in a second position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the helicopter of FIG. 2 with an exemplarytracker system having an optical tracker in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of an exemplary optical tracker in accordancewith the present disclosure for measuring at least one vibrationparameter of a blade in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the helicopter of FIG. 2 with the exemplarytracker system having the optical tracker in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the helicopter of FIG. 2 with the exemplarytracker system having the optical tracker in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the helicopter of FIG. 2 with a conventionalsystem for measuring vibration caused by at least one blade of thehelicopter.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the helicopter of FIG. 2 with an exemplarytracker system in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the opticaltracker wirelessly communicating with a display in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary optical tracker in accordancewith the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a graphical representation of spectral sensitivity of anembodiment of the optical tracker illustrated in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the sameor similar elements.

The mechanisms proposed in this disclosure circumvent the problemsdescribed above. The present disclosure describes systems and methodsfor tracking one or more rotating component of a body in order tomeasure the displacement of the rotating component and correct suchdisplacement. Further, the disclosure relates to systems and methods forvibration analyses of equipment having one or more rotating componentswhich may be referred to herein as a blade.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” (also represented as the symbol “/”) refers to an inclusive or andnot to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied byanyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or notpresent), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), andboth A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the inventive concept. Thisdescription should be read to include one or more and the singular alsoincludes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

Further, use of the term “plurality” is meant to convey “more than one”unless expressly stated to the contrary.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

The systems disclosed herein may be used with any equipment having oneor more rotary components. However, for clarity and simplicity, anexemplary piece of equipment in the form of a helicopter will be usedfor illustration. Referring now to the figures, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustratean exemplary helicopter 20 having two or more blades, and shown withBlade A and Blade B for simplification. In FIG. 1, Blade A is shown inposition 1 with a distance of Reference A from Blade A to the ground,and Blade B is shown in position 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the Blades A and B may be rotated 180 degrees, suchthat Blade B is in position 1 and Blade A is in position 2. In an idealbalanced helicopter 20, when Blade B is in position 1, a distance ofReference B from Blade B to the ground would be equal to the distanceReference A from Blade A to the ground (such that Blade B “tracks” theposition of Blade A). However, as illustrated in FIG. 2, when Blade Bdoes not track Blade A, there is a “track error.” The track error may bequantified, for example, as the difference between Reference A andReference B. However, any fixed reference datum to the Blades A and Bmay be used to calculate track error, as track error is the differencebetween the track of Blade A and the track of Blade B.

In FIG. 3, helicopter 20 is shown with an exemplary tracker system 22 inaccordance with the present disclosure. FIG. 3A shows a block diagram ofthe exemplary tracker system 22. The tracker system 22 may be mounted tothe windscreen 21 of the helicopter 20, or in any suitable location witha line of sight to one or more blade, such as Blade A and/or B. In oneexample, the tracker system 22 utilizes suction cups to attach towindscreen 21.

The tracker system 22 comprises an optical tracker 24 and anorientation/motion sensor 26. The tracker system 22 may comprise one ormore computer processors 28 (not shown). The optical tracker 24 canmeasure the distance Dm from the optical tracker 24 to the blade, forexample, the distance Dm from the optical tracker 24 to Blade B, asshown. As is well known in the art, the optical tracker 24 interpretsone or more optical signals 38. In one embodiment, the optical tracker24 has a phototransmitter that transmits one or more optical signals 38which deflect off a surface of the Blade A or Blade B and are receivedback by the optical tracker 24. By measuring the time for the one ormore optical signal 38 to be sent and received back, the distancetraveled can be calculated.

In some embodiments, the optical tracker 24 does not include an opticaltransmitter, but is designed to detect a series of optical signals 38,i.e., the presence or absence of light from the sky that is selectivelyinterrupted by the blades A or B. The optical tracker 24 can be aimed tobe selectively interrupted by an initial location of the blades A or B,and then the angle can be adjusted to receive readings from the blades Aor B at a certain location radially from the mast. In this embodiment,the optical tracker 24 includes one or more optical photodetectors anduses trigonometric techniques to calculate the distance from the opticaltracker 24 to the certain location on the blades A or B where theoptical tracker 24 is aimed. The optical signals 38 may be provided bydirect and indirect (i.e., scattered) sunlight. For example, the opticalsignal 38 may be a combination of direct sunlight (e.g., UV, visual, andinfrared wavelengths), Rayleigh scattering from atmospheric molecules(e.g., UVA, blue light, somewhat uniform across the sky), Rayleighscattering from clouds (e.g., non-uniform blue and red wavelengths), Miescattering (e.g., white light scattering, predominantly at angles closeto the sun). FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary spectral components of theoptical signals 38 that may be provided by direct and indirect sunlight.

In some embodiments, the optical photodetector(s) can be more sensitiveto UV light, and relatively less sensitive to infrared and visiblelight. Because blade shadows are predominately within the infrared andvisible wavelengths, the use of UV sensitive photodetector(s) reducesthe optical interference caused by blade shadows. For example, theoptical photodetector(s) can be GaP photodiodes because of their limitedspectral response. Exemplary wavelengths received and converted by theoptical photodetector(s) into electrical signals can be within a rangefrom 190 nm to 550 nm.

In some embodiments, the optical photodetectors can be more sensitive toUV light, and in particular, blue wavelengths of light. Generally, bluewavelengths of light and/or shorter wavelengths of light within the UVspectrum may be more stable and less affected by cloud-cover. As such,the spectral bandwidth received by the optical photodetector(s) may befurther limited (e.g., filtered) to UV light, and in particular, bluewavelengths of light. Sensitivity of the optical photodiodes to longerwavelengths (e.g., green and IR) may be reduced. For example, spectralbandwidth received by the optical photodetector(s) may be limited towithin 190-550 nm with a peak at 450 nm using GaP photodiode(s). Evenfurther, a filter may be used with the GaP photodiode(s) to furtherlimit the spectral bandwidth to 190-420 nm, 360-550 nm, or 360-420 nm.This is in comparison to traditional silicon photodiodes having aspectral range of 160-1100 nm and a peak at 950 nm (i.e., broadwavelength sensitivity). By limiting the spectral bandwidth received bythe optical photodiodes, interference from inconsistency in sky cloudcover may be reduced, especially when blades are in motion. As such,filtered optical signal may be more stable giving more precisemeasurements of distances, decreased measurement noise, fewer “missed”blades and/or system errors, and/or ability to track under diverse skyconditions. Elimination of wavelengths outside of a particular range(e.g., wavelengths outside of 360-420 nm) may also prevent internalthermal damage from focused sunlight.

The orientation/motion sensor 26 determines the orientation and/ormotion of the optical tracker 24. One non-exclusive example of anorientation/motion sensor is the Bosch Sensortec BMX055 sensor, which isan absolute orientation sensor. The orientation/motion sensor 26 may bea very small, 9-axis sensor, consisting of a triaxial 12 bitacceleration sensor, a triaxial 16 bit, ±2000°/s gyroscope and atriaxial geomagnetic sensor. The orientation/motion sensor 26 may allowaccurate measurement of angular rate, acceleration and geomagneticfields in three perpendicular axes within one device.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, by including the orientation/motion sensor 26in the tracker system 22, the orientation/motion sensor 26 of thetracker system 22 can determine an angle 30 between the optical signal38 generated by the optical tracker 24 and a horizontal line 32, such asthe horizontal position of the tracker system 22, and one or more blade,such as Blade B. An optical tachometer 40 may be used to detect therotor RPM. With information indicative of the angle 30, the RPM of therotor, and the blade chord, the processor(s) 28 of the tracker system 22can calculate the position of the optical tracker 24 relative to therotor blades A and B. This allows the processor 28 of the tracker system22 to then calculate the maximum deflection of the blades A and B at therotor blades' tip, shown as measurement “D” in FIG. 4, which is thetypically measured location for track error. Of course, it will beunderstood that, as previously explained, track error is the differencebetween blade distance measurements. The fixed datum in this example isthe horizontal line 32, however, any fixed reference datum to the bladesA and B may be used to calculate track error.

FIG. 5 is an example of geometry that may be used by the tracker system22 in calculating the track error. The track error can be calculated bytaking the difference of D calculated for blade A and D calculated forblade B. D can be calculated as D=sin(a)×Dm.

FIG. 5 is also an example of calculations the tracker system 22 may useto correct for full rotor radius when a distance is used that is notfrom the rotor blades' tip. In this example, Do can be calculated withthe following equation; Do=D×Ro/R.

By combining data from the orientation/motion sensor 26 with data from aphototachometer (RPM) 40 and the optical tracker 24, the data can befused into a single tracker system 22 that requires very little setuptime as discussed below.

As discussed above, previous systems required manual measurements andcomplicated setup. In contrast, as illustrated in the exemplaryhelicopter 20 of FIG. 5, essentially the optical tracker 24 is installedon the helicopter 20 and pointed toward the rotor blades, such as BladesA and B. The tracker system 22, with its internal orientation/motionsensor 26, is able to use trigonometric relationships to determine ifthe optical tracker 24 is oriented optimally outboard on the blades A orB, but missing any trim tabs. The tracker system 22 notifies theoperator of any positional errors, and/or adjustments required, tocomplete setup. The tracker system 22 may have electronically adjustableangles, for example, by utilizing one or more servo motor 34 in theoptical tracker 24 to move the optical tracker 24 and thus the directionof the optical signals 38 emitted or received by the optical tracker 24as shown by the arrows 36 in FIG. 5. The adjustment for setup may beautomated by using the servo motor 34 to position the optical tracker 24at predefined angles. Or the servo motor 34 can be used to scan inwardand outward to find blade tips. The servo motor 34 can also be used tocycle inward and outward to identify rotor anomalies such as trim tabs.Once the optimal measurement location is determined the servo motor 34can position the tracker angle at the optimal measurement angle.

Once the rotor is in motion and the blades A or B are periodicallyinterfering with the optical signals 38, the tracker system 22 canautomatically determine the position of the optical tracker 24 based ona combination of timing measurements, orientation sensors, and dataentered by the user (such as blade diameter and chord) by usingtrigonometric relationships.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7, another benefit of including theorientation/motion sensor 26 in the tracker system 22, is that thevibration profile can be determined for the entire piece of equipment,such as the aircraft vibration profile for the entire helicopter 20. Asmentioned previously, current systems, an example of which isillustrated in FIG. 6, attach multiple accelerometers around thehelicopter 20, as well as one at the mast 1, one at the nose 2, and thenrun wire back to a central computer (not shown) for analysis. Thesemultiple accelerometers are located to maximize the translationalvibration in the accelerometer.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 7, in accordance with the presentdisclosure, the tracker system 22 may further comprise one or moresix-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) inertial measurement systems 44 capable ofproducing gyroscopic data that can be used to calculate thetranslational vibration occurring at any location on the helicopter 20.Therefore, the 6-DOF inertial measurement system 44 mounted anywhere onthe helicopter 20, and/or in the tracker system 22, can calculate thevibration at any other point on the helicopter 20 by using rigid bodykinematics based on predefined position vectors for each point relativeto the 6-DOF sensor. This can generate “virtual” sensors on the aircraftto calculate vibration at different points. Although the inertialmeasurement systems 44 are described herein as 6-DOF inertialmeasurement systems, it should be understood that inertial measurementsystems having at least one degree of freedom can be used.

The 6-DOF inertial measurement system 44 may comprise one or moreaccelerometer, one or more gyroscopic rotational sensor, and/or one ormore multi-axis gyroscopic rotational sensor. The 6-DOF inertialmeasurement system 44 may be positioned with, and/or be within a samehousing 46 as, the optical tracker 24 on the helicopter 20. The 6-DOFinertial measurement system 44 may also be positioned at a knowndistance and location relative to the 6-DOF inertial measurement system44. The 6-DOF inertial measurement system 44 may have circuitry fordetermining vibration data (used in conjunction with optical bladetiming data to track and balance the helicopter 20) and transmitting thevibration data to the computer processor 28. By using a multi-axisinertial measurement system 44 (velocity, acceleration, and/orgyroscopic) with the axes at a single location, vibration magnitude andphase of the vibration at “virtual” locations on the helicopter 20 canbe calculated using well-known rigid body dynamics. This would makeinstallation much simpler because fewer sensors are placed on thehelicopter 20.

Of course, it will be understood that the examples above discuss thetracker system 22 in use with helicopters purely for exemplary reasons.The tracker system 22 may be used on any equipment having rotatingcomponents. Some non-exclusive examples of equipment having rotatingcomponents for which the system may be used include airplane rotors,helicopter vertical rotors, industrial fans, industrial equipment,industrial rotors, and manufacturing equipment.

Shown in FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of thetracker system 22. In general, the tracker system 22 is provided withthe housing 46 that encloses and supports the optical tracker 24, theorientation/motion sensor 26, the processor(s) 28, and the inertialmeasurement system 44. The tachometer 40 can be outside of the housing46 and communicate with the processor 28 using any suitablecommunication methodology, such as a wired or a wireless connection.Exemplary wired connections include serial connections, or parallelconnections that include but are not limited to a data bus. Exemplarywireless connections include, but are not limited to, a Wi-Ficonnection, a blue-tooth connection, optical connection or the like. Theoptical tracker 24, the orientation/motion sensor 26, and the inertialmeasurement system 44 may communicate with the processor 28 using awired or a wireless connection.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in other embodiments, the tracker system 22 can beprovided with one or more global positioning system 48, compass 50, orpitostatic sensor 52. The global positioning system 48 may be configuredto determine and provide location data signals to the processor(s) 28.The compass 50 is an instrument that determines direction, and generatesand supplies signals to the processor(s) 28 indicative of a directionthat the compass 50 is facing. The pitostatic sensor 52 is a pressuresensitive instrument that determines at least one of the airspeed of thehelicopter 20, the vertical speed of the helicopter 20, and an altitudeof the helicopter 20 by measuring the forces acting on the helicopter 20as a function of the temperature, density, pressure and viscosity of theatmosphere in which the helicopter 20 is operating. The pitostaticsensor 52 may include a pitot tube (not shown), a static port (notshown) and the pitot-static instruments (not shown). The pitostaticsensor 52 generates and supplies signals to the processor(s) 28indicative of at least one of the airspeed of the helicopter 20, thevertical speed of the helicopter 20, and an altitude of the helicopter20.

When determining and tracking the revolutions per minute and/or thetrack error of the blades A and B, the processor 28 can be configured toreceive and record the conditions when the data was taken. The processor28 can be configured to enable and disable the optical tracker 24, theorientation/motion sensor 26, the tachometer 40, the inertialmeasurement system 44, the global positioning system 48, the compass 50and the pitostatic sensor 52 to generate data. Additional data beinggenerated by one or more of the instruments connected to theprocessor(s) 28, including but not limited to the orientation/motionsensor 26, inertial measurement system 44, global positioning system 48,compass, 50 and the pitostatic sensor 52 can be logged and stored by theprocessor 28 in a non-transitory computer readable medium as a singlereading, or a sequence of data over time, and stored with a uniqueidentifier indicative of a particular test conducted by the trackingsystem 22. Exemplary additional data that can be logged by theprocessor(s) 28 include but are not limited to one or more GPS locationsignals (generated by the global positioning system 48), compassdirection (generated by the compass 50), vibration data (generated bythe inertial measurement system 44), Pitostatic airspeed (generated bythe pitostatic sensor 52), Pitch data (generated by the inertialmeasurement system 44), Roll data (generated by the inertial measurementsystem 44), yaw data (generated by the inertial measurement system 44),revolutions per minute (generated by the tachometer 40, clock calendar(generated by the global positioning system 48).

The processor(s) 28 can also be configured to disable the opticaltracker 24 from collecting data indicative of the distance from theoptical tracker 24 to the blades A and B, but enable one or more of theinstruments connected to the processor(s) 28, including but not limitedto the orientation/motion sensor 26, tachometer 40, inertial measurementsystem 44, global positioning system 48, compass, 50 and the pitostaticsensor 52 to generate and provide data to the processor 28. The data canbe logged and stored by the processor 28 in a non-transitory computerreadable medium as a single reading, or a sequence of data over time,and stored with a unique identifier indicative of a particular testconducted by the tracking system 22. Exemplary additional data that canbe logged by the processor(s) 28 include but are not limited to one ormore GPS location signals (generated by the global positioning system48), compass direction (generated by the compass 50), vibration data(generated by the inertial measurement system 44), pitostatic airspeed(generated by the pitostatic sensor 52), pitch data (generated by theinertial measurement system 44), Roll data (generated by the inertialmeasurement system 44), yaw data (generated by the inertial measurementsystem 44), revolutions per minute (generated by the tachometer 40,clock calendar (generated by the global positioning system 48).

Referring again to FIG. 8, the housing 46 can be provided with a window56 for permitting the optical signals 38 generated by the opticaltracker 24 to be transmitted outside of the housing 46, and for alsopermitting the reflections of the optical signals 38 from the blades Aand B to pass through the window 56 and be received by the opticaltracker 24. In the embodiment in which the optical tracker 24 does notgenerate the optical signals 38, but receives a series of opticalsignals 38 from the sky that are interfered with by the blades A or B,the window 56 may be constructed to pass the optical signals 38 to theoptical photodetectors of the optical tracker 24.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary optical tracker 24 a configured toreceive a series of optical signals 38 from the sky and used within thetracker system 22. Generally, the optical signals 38 from the sky may beprovided by direct and indirect (e.g., scattered) sunlight, for example.The optical tracker 24 a can be aimed to be selectively interrupted byan initial location of the blades A or B (shown in FIG. 3), and then theangle can be adjusted to receive readings from the blades A or B at acertain location radially from the mast. Though the optical signals 38are depicted as parallel to one another in FIG. 9, it will be understoodthat the optical signals 38 may be at one or more angle and/or at one ormore angle from one another.

In this embodiment, the optical tracker 24 a includes one or moreoptical photodetectors 70 positioned within an optical tracker housing46 a on a substrate 72 (e.g., circuit board) and uses trigonometrictechniques to calculate the distance from the optical tracker 24 a tothe certain location on the blades A or B where the optical tracker 24 ais aimed. The optical tracker housing 46 a may be opaque to UV light,visible light and infrared light, but may include one or moretransparent and/or translucent windows to pass light from outside of theoptical tracker housing 46 a to the optical photodetector(s) 70. Theoptical photodetector(s) 70 can be more sensitive to UV light, andrelatively less sensitive to infrared and visible light. Because bladeshadows are predominately within the infrared and visible wavelengths,the use of UV sensitive photodetector(s) 70 may reduce the opticalinterference caused by blade shadows. For example, the opticalphotodetector(s) 70 can be GaP photodiodes because of their limitedspectral response.

Referring to FIG. 9, the optical tracker housing 46 a may allow foroptical signals 38 to be directed through an optical filter 74 providingfiltered light 76 to the optical photodetectors 70. The optical filter74 may further limit the spectral range of the optical signals 38entering the optical tracker housing 46 a. For example, in someembodiments, the optical filter 74 may be a bandpass filter providingfiltered light 76 within a range of 360-420 nm, and attenuating and/orsubstantially blocking optical signals 38 outside of the range as shownin FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a graphical representation of spectralsensitivity of an embodiment of the optical tracker 24 a illustrated inFIG. 9. FIG. 10, in particular, is a graph showing a relative intensityto wavelength for sun light passing through clouds and not passingthrough clouds. The graph of the sunlight (passing through clouds) isdesignated in FIG. 10 with the reference numeral 100, the sunlight (notpassing through clouds—which can also be referred to as “blue sky”) isdesignated with the reference numeral 104, and a graph of a ratio 102between the graphs 100 and 104 is also depicted in FIG. 10. Further, agraph 106 of an exemplary optical filter 74 is also depicted in FIG. 10.As such, the filtered light 76 reaching the optical photodetectors 70may remain in the range of 360-420 nm and only include ultraviolet lightand the blue end of the visible light spectrum while blocking theremainder of the visible light spectrum and ultraviolet light. In someembodiments, one or more lenses 78 may be used within the opticaltracker housing 46 a to further focus the filtered light 76 to theoptical photodetectors 70.

In one embodiment, the optical photodetectors 70 may be illuminated byoff-axis optical signals 38. The optical filter 74 may distort thewavefront of the optical signals 38 so that an off-axis angle from thesky maps to an off-axis optical photodetector 70.

The tracker system 22 may also be provided with an attachment device 58to permit the housing 46 to be connected to the helicopter 20. Forexample, the attachment device 58 may include a suction cup assemblythat is connected to the housing 46 via a post 60. The one or more servomotors 34 can be linked between the housing 46, and the attachmentdevice 58 to permit the orientation of the housing 46 to be adjustedrelative to the attachment device 58. In this embodiment, the opticaltracker 24 can be mounted in a stationary location/orientation withinthe housing 46. Alternatively, the servo motor(s) 34 can be linked tothe optical tracker 24 for permitting the servo motor(s) 34 to adjustthe location/orientation of the optical tracker 24 within the housing46.

It will also be understood that the components of the tracker system 22and/or the optical tracker 24 may be encompassed by a single enclosure,or may be individually contained, or combined in more than one enclosurein any combination.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the optical tracker 24 maytransmit or utilize one or more optical signal 38 in determining thedistance from the optical tracker 24 to the one or more blades A and B.The one or more optical signal 38 may be deflected by the one or moreblades A and B back to the tracker system 22. The optical signal 38 maybe received by the optical tracker 24, amplified and converted by thetracker system 22 into an analog signal and/or translated into a digitalsignal, and transmitted to a display 42 using a communication system 54.The communication system 54 can use a wired and/or a wireless connectionto communicate with the display 42. The display 42 may show readouts fora user. The system may also produce one or more printed reports ofresults. The display 42 may indicate blade track (example: inches highor low as related to a master blade), vibration magnitude (example:inches per second) and phase (in degrees) at each measurement point.Optionally, the display 42 can show recommended adjustments to be madeby a user, and needed to optimize track and balance. The display 42 maybe in any format, non-exclusive examples of which include a computerscreen, a monitor, a laptop display, a smart-phone, a tablet, a handhelddevice, a heads-up device, an in-panel device, and so on. Using theinformation from the report of results or the display 42, the user canmake adjustments to the rotary components to correct and/or optimize theblade track and/or the balance. This can be accomplished byrepositioning one or more blades and/or applying a specified weight to arotor at one or more locations.

CONCLUSION

Conventionally, correction of displacement of rotary components ofdevices and vibration data and analysis require complicated setup andmeasurements. In accordance with the present disclosure, a consolidatedtracker system 22 may comprise one or more orientation/motion sensors 26in order to automatically calculate a variety of parameters involved inoptimizing performance of the helicopter 20 including vibration ortracker error. Further, the tracker system 22 may comprise one or moreaccelerometers consolidated in a single housing 46 and preferably withinthe optical tracker 24 rather than throughout the aircraft, to reducesensor positions and improve vibration data collection and analysis.

The foregoing description provides illustration and description, but isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventive concepts to theprecise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible inlight of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of themethodologies set forth in the present disclosure.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit the disclosure. In fact, many of these features may becombined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosedin the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below maydirectly depend on only one other claim, the disclosure includes eachdependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitlydescribed as such outside of the preferred embodiment. Further, thephrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tracker system mountable on a device having oneor more rotary component, the tracker system comprising: a housinghaving a window; an optical tracker within the housing and havingcircuitry that causes the optical tracker to receive and generate dataindicative of a distance from one or more optical signal interfered by,and received from, the one or more rotary component of the devicethrough the window, the one or more optical signal including UVwavelengths, visible light wavelengths, and infrared wavelengths, andthe optical tracker configured to be more sensitive to the UVwavelengths, than the visible light wavelengths; one or more computerprocessor having circuitry that receives and utilizes the data from theoptical tracker to determine a parameter of the one or more rotarycomponent of the device.
 2. The tracker system of claim 1, furthercomprising a display receiving the data indicative of the parameter anddisplaying the data.
 3. The tracker system of claim 1, furthercomprising one or more accelerometer located with the optical tracker,the one or more accelerometer having circuitry for determining vibrationdata and transmitting the vibration data to the computer processor. 4.The tracker system of claim 1, further comprising one or more gyroscopicrotational sensor located with the optical tracker, the one or moregyroscopic rotational sensor having circuitry for determining vibrationdata and transmitting the vibration data to the computer processor. 5.The tracker system of claim 1, further comprising one or more multi-axisgyroscopic rotational sensor located with the optical tracker, the oneor more multi-axis gyroscopic rotational sensor having circuitry fordetermining vibration data and transmitting the vibration data to thecomputer processor.
 6. The tracker system of claim 1, wherein the deviceis an aircraft and the one or more rotary component is one or more rotorhaving blades.
 7. The tracker system of claim 1, wherein the device isan industrial fan and the one or more rotary component is one or morerotor having blades.
 8. The tracker system of claim 1, wherein thedevice is a windmill and the one or more rotary component is one or morerotor having blades.
 9. The tracker system of claim 1, wherein theoptical tracker utilizes timing of optical signal transmittal andreceipt to determine distance from the optical tracker to one or morerotary component of the device.
 10. The tracker system of claim 1,wherein the distance is the distance from the optical tracker to one ormore rotary component of the device.
 11. The tracker system of claim 1,wherein the optical tracker includes optical photodetectors that areless sensitive to infrared light and visible light than ultravioletlight.
 12. The tracker system of claim 1, further comprising at leastone filter and an optical detector positioned within the housing withthe at least one filter positioned to receive the optical signal andsupply filtered light to the optical detector, the filter configured topass UV light and to substantially block visible light and infraredlight.
 13. The tracker system of claim 12, wherein the at least onefilter is configured to pass wavelengths of light within a range of360-420 nm.
 14. The tracker system of claim 1, wherein the opticaltracker further comprises: an optical tracker housing constructed of amaterial that is opaque to UV light, visible light and infrared light,the optical tracker housing having one or more windows transparent to UVlight for receiving optical signals; at least one optical photodetectorpositioned within the housing; and, at least one filter configured toreceive the optical signals and provide filtered light including UVlight and substantially not including visible light and infrared light.15. The tracker system of claim 14, wherein the at least one filter is aband pass filter configured to pass light having a wavelength in a rangeof 360-420 nm to the at least one optical photodetector.
 16. The trackersystem of claim 14, wherein the optical tracker further comprises atleast one lens configured to focus the filtered light on the at leastone optical photodetector.